Two days before the official launch of City Park, Nottingham-based designer Wolfgang Buttress visited Bradford to admire his handiwork.

He is the artist behind three large stone sculptures at the site and the galvanised steel lighting columns which tower over the mirror pool.

Mr Buttress said: “It’s absolutely fantastic. You wouldn’t have thought a couple of years ago in Bradford in March hundreds of people would be sitting outside enjoying the sun. It sits really comfortably in the space, even though it is contemporary it feels like it’s always been here.”

We asked other people visiting the City Park, both locals and visitors, what they thought of Bradford’s newest landmark.

“I like it, it’s really nice. Especially people who are working, when they come over here the relief and peace to sit down round here – in the busiest life the surroundings really make you feel the relief.”

Uneesa Qureshi, 25, of Great Horton “I think it is a step in the right direction for Bradford, particularly the city centre. This is an indication that once again Bradford means business, when all is said and done.”

John Mason, 66, of Haworth Road “It looks better than it did. It is nice to just sit down here, it is quite relaxing. I come to the city centre every day to go to the college, we generally come down here and chill out.”

Kirily Martin, 19, of Mytholmroyd “It is nice. Before there was no space to sit but now people can come and enjoy here, sit down, get some rest and things like this and enjoy their lives.”

Faisal Ayub Khan, 44, of Ripley Road, Bowling “I think it is wonderful. I’m at college here. I really like the use of space. I have walked through this space for 18 months when it was a building site and to see it transformed is wonderful. It has got a sense of peace.”

Carole Walley, 64, of Allerton Bywater “I’m here on a training course for work. I think it’s really nice, really relaxing. I like the way the fountains go off at different times, it draws you in.”

Gillian Duncan, 41, of Aberdeen